It was fairly clear in *MASH* that Corporal Klinger's affectation for women's clothes stemmed from his desire to be discharged as loony, not because he was gay (despite what Farr might have felt about the role). In *Soap,* as I recall, Billy Crystal's character Jodie was intended to be gay but also (if memory serves correctly), his ambition was to have a sex-change operation. *Love, Sidney* was a sit-com spun off from a well-received m-f-tv-m on NBC in which the Randall character was unambiguously gay, while NBC claimed that, in the sit-com, he was not, which very much surprised the show's writers, producers, and performers. Randall was very outspoken about NBC's retinence and evasions concerning his character's sexual orientation, as I recall. The Showtime program was *Brothers,* which had a long run in the mid- to late-1980s and paved the way for the likes of Larry Sanders, et. al. The show was about an older brother and his father dealing with the younger brother's homosexuality, set in what had to be the nation's most brightly-lit tavern (done on videotape, the production required light levels found in few bars!). I think there was a recurring gay man in *thirtysomething,* a friend of photographer Melissa (or was that Ellen, can't recall). Lately, a number of gay characters have made intermittent appearances on a number of sit-coms, including *Home Improvement,* *Just Shoot Me,* *Frazier,* and even *Seinfeld,* not that there's anything wrong with that! :-) _______________________________________________________________________________ William Lafferty, PhD Department of Theatre Arts [log in to unmask] Wright State University office (937) 775-4581 or 3072 Dayton, OH 45435-0001 USA facsimile (937) 775-3787 The universe was once conceived almost as a vast preserve, landscaped for heroes, plotted to provide them the appropriate adventures. The rules were known and respected, the adversaries honorable, the oracles articulate and precise as the directives of a six-lane parkway. Errors of weakness or vanity led, with measured momentum, to the tragedy which resolved everything. Today, the rules are ambiguous, the adversary is concealed in aliases, the oracles broadcast a babble of contradictions. --- Maya Deren, from her notes for *At Land* ---- To sign off SCREEN-L, e-mail [log in to unmask] and put SIGNOFF SCREEN-L in the message. Problems? Contact [log in to unmask]